A master networker shares a simple trick to connect with anyone in a matter of minutes

Rahzel, beat-boxing pioneer and former member of The Roots, told
Business Insider that he's consistently amazed by the way his
friend Jon Levy remembers meeting the hundreds of people he's
connected with through his networking group, the Influencers.

"Jon can pinpoint people and the places and exact time he met
them," Rahzel said.

Levy is a marketing consultant who has spent the past six years
building a network of over 400 interesting and impressive people
ranging from Nobel laureates to Olympic athletes.

When we shared Rahzel's comment with Levy, he laughed and
said that he wishes he remembered people due to an innate
brilliance rather than a simple technique he's adopted.

"For the most part, our memory is visual, and it works based on
novelty for something to really stick out," Levy said.
"If there's somebody I meet that I really want to connect
with, I try to create a moment that's memorable and that can
serve as tradition."

So rather than walk up to people and ask how their day is going
and who they work for, Levy will approach in an unforgettable
way. This may entail arriving with a bottle of liquor to take a
shot, or introducing them to another impressive person they would
enjoy speaking to.

You can also make introductory conversations unforgettable by
simply
asking an interesting question that, in the rote
conversations common at networking events, no one else thought to
ask.

For example, Levy told the story of how he met an executive from
the dating app Tinder and asked her, "What's the first question
people ask you when they find out you work at Tinder?" She
laughed and said men often nervously ask her if Tinder employees
have access to users' personal messages to each other, with the
unsaid understanding that they'd be mortified if that were the
case. "Now I'll never forget her!" Levy said.

In all instances, Levy makes a mental note of where and when he
first met someone, and can draw on that experience the next few
times he sees that person. That way, he can avoid awkward
re-introductions by instantly triggering the visual memory in
both parties, and giving them a story to begin their next
conversation with.